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Daeyoung knows Riku.
Riku – the boy with the dark chocolate locks that perfectly framed his face, ears constantly decorated with piercings, and a dimpled smile that could calm even the fussiest of babies. He knows how the boy dreams of opening a bakery in the Japanese countryside, making fresh bread and pastries as sweet as he is. He knows how Riku broke his finger during a volleyball match and how Daeyoung had to take notes for him for the entire time it was healing. He knows the way Riku’s ears turn red when they make eye contact for a little too long, how he turns away and covers his mouth with a hand as if Daeyoung can’t see the way his eyes smile anyway.
Daeyoung’s younger, but he’s not as oblivious as people seem to think he is. He knows what the constant teasing means, as well as the fingers that always end up threading through his hair, or the head that finds itself on his shoulder. It’d be a falsehood to say that Daeyoung doesn’t feel it too. That pull towards Riku that can only be described as cosmic, pre-determined — fateful.
It’s confusing and overwhelming at times, trying to figure out the why and how of it all. He’s dated before, had his fair share of relationships and flings, and even a situationship that almost ruined his life. But none ever seemed to make him feel the way that Riku did.
It could have to do with the fact that Riku had always been there, ever since quietly falling into his orbit upon arriving in Korea. It was Daeyoung who spoke to him first, the extrovert that he is, and though Riku was shy, he was anything but quiet. The moment he got comfortable, he talked, and talked, and talked some more. And yet, Daeyoung could listen to him speak all day, even if it was about things he really didn’t understand.
It became known that whenever you saw Riku, you saw Daeyoung, and whenever you saw Daeyoung, you’d see Riku, both taking turns leading and following the other. Daeyoung liked it that way; it made him warm knowing that Riku was never too far away. Daeyoung also didn’t overlook how, whenever he would talk to Yushi or Sion for too long, he’d slowly find his way into their conversation.
He didn’t miss how he’d throw an arm over Daeyoung’s shoulder, subtle, like he didn’t want to bring too much attention to himself or the way he was seemingly staking his claim. Daeyoung would carefully wrap an arm around his waist, not holding him, just resting it in the space above his hip bone. Sion will always text him after, telling him how he had caught Riku staring before he inched his way closer.
Riku gets his license first, tells Daeyoung he’ll drive him anywhere he wants, and the younger doesn’t hesitate when he tells Riku to take him to the beach.
They drive, and Daeyoung feeds Riku his favorite fruit jellies as they move along the highway, Daeyoung navigating them towards the coast. The younger chuckles when he pulls out a strawberry-flavored jelly that’s shaped awfully close to a heart instead of the star it’s supposed to be.
“Hm?” Riku glances at him for half a second before his eyes are back on the road. “What are you laughing at over there?” He asks, tone light and curious.
“There’s a heart-shaped jelly in here.” Daeyoung offers it to Riku, placing it close enough for the other to lean forward a few centimeters to eat it. “I guess you loved the strawberry flavor so much that it turned itself into a heart.”
Riku bites his lip in a failed attempt to hide a smile and runs a hand through his hair. “You’re so cheesy.” But Daeyoung knows he likes it despite his words.
Daeyoung can’t skip stones, but it’s okay because Riku will do it for him, using the smooth stones that Daeyoung finds on the sand. Late summer is still clinging on, so the breeze is welcome.
It smells like salt and laughter and Riku’s childhood, and Daeyoung listens to him talk about how he’d pick up shells and see if he really could hear the sounds of the sea. There are no beaches in Daegu, so it amazes him that Riku could come to a place like this so often. Daeyoung hopes this outing sticks in Riku’s mind the same way it will for him. He draws in the sand, with the arm that Riku isn’t currently wrapped around.
D + R
Daeyoung looks down at him when Riku sighs a sound of contentment. Riku’s hair is getting long, and he’s probably due for a cut with the way his bangs are almost hanging in his eyes, but he looks handsome all the same. He pushes a strand away, gently.
“You should open your bakery close to a beach.”
Daeyoung talks about it as though the plan’s already in motion, like it’s not a matter of if, but when. The elder’s determined, so much so that Daeyoung knows he’d stop at nothing to make it a reality. Riku looks up at him through long eyelashes, cheek still brushing against his shoulder, and Daeyoung can’t help but smile.
“You’d always be able to watch the sunrise, right over the water,” Daeyoung says, and turns back to the horizon. There’s a toddler walking along the edge of the water between her parents, each one holding one of her tiny hands, and she giggles whenever the tides come up.
Riku tightens his hold on his arm, ponders on the words for a moment before responding. “Do you think we’ll be able to watch it together?”
The question itself isn’t hard to answer, because the truth is, Daeyoung would follow Riku to the ends of the earth if that would please him. He contemplates joking around, saying something along the lines of ‘If you want me to, I guess,’ just to see Riku pout over his lack of enthusiasm.
Daeyoung decides against it when he looks back down and sees Riku waiting with his eyebrows raised, hopeful.
“You don’t even have to ask.”
And it’s enough, more than enough. He knows this because Riku sits up, presses even more of his body weight into Daeyoung’s side, and starts going on about the menu and what the interior would look like. (A photobooth is non-negotiable.)
When the sky starts to turn different shades of pink and purple and their bellies growl for attention, they choose a restaurant run by an older lady who grins warmly at them. The food doesn’t come out quickly, but only because it’s made with a level of care that the pair can taste.
Riku sits next to Daeyoung, never across, shoulder touching shoulder, thigh touching thigh, even though there’s more than enough room for either one of them to peel themselves away from the other. Daeyoung never does, wouldn’t even think of it. Just feeds Riku a bite of his dish that he’s not asking for with his mouth, but with his eyes. It’s simple, and it’s easy, and Daeyoung likes to think he’s the only one who knows Riku to this degree.
The drive home is calm, soft, and silent except for the song playing from the radio. Daeyoung rested his head against the window as a woman’s voice played through the car speakers. There were barely any cars out on the road, and it would’ve been pitch black if it weren’t for the lights dotted along the side of the highway.
If Daeyoung wasn’t paying attention, he would’ve missed Riku’s question.
“Are you asleep?”
It was quiet enough that it wouldn’t wake Daeyoung up if he was actually sleeping. He simply shook his head before realizing that Riku probably didn’t notice it.
“Just thinking,” he responded.
Riku didn’t say anything afterward, even though Daeyoung had a bit of an inkling that he wanted to, that he had something on his mind. Instead, Daeyoung watches as Riku’s hand makes its way to the top of his thigh, squeezing gently. It’s warm, and Daeyoung’s reminded of how big Riku’s hands are when they’re splayed out like this, fingertips reaching his inner thigh.
He looks up and Riku’s got his eyes trained on the road in front of him, lit up by the car’s headlights. Daeyoung laughs internally, smiles externally, knowing that even if Riku wasn’t driving, he’d probably still avoid his eyes. He leans his head back on the window, but not before covering Riku’s hand with his own, hoping that Riku gets the message.
They’ve kissed before, exactly once. It had occurred under the guise of being purely experimental, because Daeyoung had never kissed a guy before, and who better to show him than Riku? It had happened on a night when no one was home, and they’d sat across from each other on Daeyoung’s bed. Eyes big and watery, and Daeyoung had asked Riku for this favor, just this one time, swearing it wouldn’t change anything between them. Because Daeyoung had to be sure, had to see if his feelings really had gone past the point of friendship and into the deep waters of romance.
“Are you sure?” Riku had asked him tentatively, and his eyes searched Daeyoung’s face.
Daeyoung nodded. “I’m sure.”
So Riku had leaned in, took the lead in a way only he would know how, firm yet gentle in how he slotted their lips together. Daeyoung had felt his heart pick up so quickly that he thought it might stop entirely. And then, as quickly as it had started, it was over. But Daeyoung’s heart had kept fluttering, the warmth in his chest kept growing, and he could only think of kissing Riku again.
That had happened a lifetime ago. And yet, when they pulled up in front of Daeyoung’s house, it was all he could think about. He’d thought of kissing Riku before, more than he cared to admit. But tonight, something else was in the air, in the wind that warned of autumn’s fast-approaching arrival.
Tonight, Riku put the car in park, and just looked at him, a soft smile on his face and his hand still on Daeyoung’s thigh like it had been since he first put it there. There’s another squeeze to his thigh, and Daeyoung uses it as fuel.
“Hyung,” Daeyoung whispers, because he’s sure his voice will betray him in the next few minutes.
Riku hums inquisitively, patiently, like he always is whenever it comes to Daeyoung.
The younger’s eyes flit to Riku’s ears when the jewelry catches in the light. Adorning his ears are the earrings he gifted Riku for his birthday. Riku’s jaw had dropped when he opened the white box, clearly not expecting anything of the sort. There was something about how deliberate his choice in the jewelry was, how he chose something that he’s sure Riku would have chosen for himself if he had been the one shopping. And then Daeyoung topped it by making it a gift they could share between the two of them, as he bought a necklace with the same cloud-shaped charm sitting in the middle of it. It was special, and it was theirs.
Daeyoung held the piece of metal hanging right beneath his collarbone between his fingertips. He rubbed his thumb over the encrusted jewels—a nervous habit he had picked up sometime within the last few weeks. It was a small action, but it steeled him most of the time, when his thoughts were running at a pace he couldn’t keep up with.
He swallowed.
“Riku hyung,” he started again.
“What is it, Daeyoungie?”
And Daeyoung’s heart fluttered even more. He takes in a breath—
“I like you,” he breathes out. He feels like a teenager again with the way the confession falls from his lips, and he kind of wishes he had thought this through a bit more. “I like you so much that I think I might die if I don’t tell you.”
Riku looks at him and breaks out into a grin. His hand trails up Daeyoung’s body, slowly, faintly, barely pressing against the fabric until it lands on Daeyoung’s cheek. Daeyoung presses into it and the comfort that it brings him, as if Riku’s in control of him and his mood. In a way, he is.
“You’re so cute, Young-ah,” Riku says in the space between them, and it sparks something in Daeyoung that he can’t describe. Riku leans across the console and kisses him right on the apple of his cheek.
“I’m already yours.”